


In the Wind and Driving Leaves

by girlnamedlance



Category: Kamen Rider W (Double)
Genre: M/M, fall - Freeform, good deeds, leaves, pass the pumpkin spice latte, shotaro hidari friend to all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-16
Updated: 2015-10-16
Packaged: 2018-04-26 15:07:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5009389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlnamedlance/pseuds/girlnamedlance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Doing a small favor in the community results in teaching Philip about fall.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Wind and Driving Leaves

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly idk if Japanese kids jump in leaves but just work with me here.

The wind was brisk but not too stiff today. Leaves blew in a clump across the street to catch in the gutter. Another bunch came from behind him to wend their way around Shotaro’s ankles like a cat. It was a lovely afternoon for a walk, so he left Hardboilder at the office as he went to follow up with a couple of clients. He walked past a small old shrine and some movement caught his eye. It was the old priest, hunched in his old age, with a rake in his hands. Wasn’t there a younger guy that usually helped him out with that kind of thing? He knew he’d seen him out here before.

“Hey, gramps,” Shotaro called to him. He jogged a bit to close the gap between them. 

The old man stopped and leaned on his rake to wave. “It’s good to see you!” he said, though he was a bit breathless. “How’s business? Not too busy, I hope.”

“Not too bad,” he answered. Of course, a busy agency was good for business, but it also meant there was a lot of suffering in the city. The reverse meant Akiko was a bit quicker with the slipper and she started threatening to stick an ad on Double’s back every time they transformed. “Say, don’t I usually see Kuchiki out here taking care of this for you? You should be enjoying your retirement!”

The old man’s face beamed with pride. “His sister had her first baby the other day! He’s a new uncle!”

“Ah! Seriously?!” He hadn’t realized she was so close to giving birth.

“I wouldn’t want to take him away from his family over something like this. I can do this much. It’s good for the joints.” 

As much as he said so, Shotaro had seen how slowly he had been moving. At the rate he was going, he was going to be at this until nightfall. “What do you say my partner and I give you a hand?” he offered.

“Eeh? Are you sure?” 

“Yeah! It’s no problem! I’ll give him a call right now.” Philip was only a couple buttons on Stag away. “Yo, partner, get your jacket on.”

“Eh? What for?” Philip sounded intrigued. Good, he wasn’t absorbed in whatever manner of research he’d chosen for that day. 

“I’m down at Fuu-Etsu shrine and the priest needs a hand with the leaves. I told him we’d help him out.”

Philip sighed and chuckled. Somewhere he could hear the “Half-boiled as ever,” even if it went unsaid this time. “Very well. I will be there shortly. Mick will expect you to make this up to him.”

Shotaro chuckled. “He’ll take it out on my laundry later.”

By the time Shotaro and the old man retrieved a second rake and some gloves from the shed and cleared away a few larger sticks, Philip arrived. He had his fingers raised to his lip as he looked around the property curiously with a small smile. Shotaro couldn’t help but smile as he watched him take it in. That fascination with everything around him was one of his favorite qualities of his partner.

Philip was fairly fascinated by the rake made from bamboo and reeds for a moment, and watched Shotaro curiously as he got the process started. Seemingly satisfied that he now knew enough to get what was going on, they decided to go along the line of trees from opposite ends, meeting somewhere in the middle. 

The space was small, but the pride of the shrine were the maples packed in close together all around the edge of the property. The persistent cold and wind meant they pretty much had all dropped at once overnight. That meant there were a lot of leaves to clear from the little nooks and crannies. 

Shotaro glanced up from picking up a pile of leaves to stuff in a bag to find Philip standing stock still, holding the rake against himself. His height and the length of the handle meant he could comfortably rest his chin on the end of it. He sighed. Of course he was going to do a lookup on this. He was sure he was going to hear all about the results of his research later.

After a journey up a ladder to make sure the gutters of the shrine were clear, Shotaro expected to find Philip had nearly met him in the middle. And while yes, by then the leaves had been largely cleared, he found something he didn’t expect. He spotted Philip dragging the last pair of large paper bags they’d packed the leaves into away from the entrance. 

“What the hell are you doing?” he asked. He followed him as he headed around the back of the main shrine building. 

It was there he suddenly realized the enormity of the mistake he’d made. Philip had dumped all of the leaf bags into one big pile. The kind that would make kids super excited. And, like the overgrown kid he was sometimes, Philip smiled excitedly. Shotaro was too shocked to do anything but watch him dump the last one into the heap.

“Ah, you’re just in time! I believe this is the tradition known as ‘jumping into leaf piles’, correct?” he was grinning like the cat that caught the mouse.

“Philip, we’ll have to clean all these up again!”

A chuckle came from behind Shotaro. “I believe your partner has the right idea.” 

“Come on, Shotaro!” Philip ran over behind Shotaro and shoved him toward the pile of leaves. Despite his bluster and objections, into the pile they tumbled. All at once Shotaro was engulfed in leaves, and pinned down by his partner. He couldn’t see it, but he was pretty sure Philip was grinning. 

“Hey! Let me--” but in a moment Philip was kissing him. Okay, he couldn’t really argue about this. He’s never made out in a leaf pile before.


End file.
